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Baseball playoffs: Marco Scutaro in lineup for Game 3 of Giants-Cardinals series

Manager Bruce Bochy said he was 100 per cent certain Scutaro would play after the second baseman participated in the off-day workout Tuesday.Giants infielder Marco Scutaro is in San Francisco's lineup for Game 3 of the NLCS, two days after getting run over by St. Louis Cardinals slugger Matt Holliday on a play at second base.

St. Louis Cardinals' Matt Holliday slides into San Francisco Giants second baseman Marco Scutaro during the first inning of Game 2 of their MLB NLCS playoff baseball series in San Francisco, Oct.15, 2012.

By:STAR STAFF AND WIRE SERVICES Published on Wed Oct 17 2012

Manager Bruce Bochy said he was 100 per cent certain Scutaro would play after the second baseman participated in the off-day workout Tuesday.

ST. LOUIS—Giants infielder Marco Scutaro is in San Francisco's lineup for Game 3 of the NLCS, two days after getting run over by St. Louis Cardinals slugger Matt Holliday on a play at second base.

Manager Bruce Bochy said he was 100 per cent certain Scutaro would play after the second baseman felt well enough to participate in the off-day workout Tuesday night.

Scutaro injured his left hip and left knee in Game 2 Monday night when Holliday slid late while attempting to bust up a double play and charged into him. He’s batting .500 in the NLCS with two RBIs.

Meanwhile, San Francisco Giants’ ace Matt Cain, who starts Wednesday’s pivotal Game 3 in St. Louis, said he sees a lot of similarities between his club and the opposition Cardinals.

“With what they did against Washington — even to get into the playoffs — they fought to the very end. And they did that the year before, as well,” Cain said. “And that’s the way we look at ourselves. We feel like we’re never out of the game until it’s over. And guys are going to do what they can to try to win games until the end of it. And I think that’s why this should be a very fun series.”

While the American League final is on the verge of ending in a sweep, the National League is just starting to heat up. And if Cain is right, Giants-Cardinals could end up going the distance.

After San Francisco’s dominant 7-1 win on Monday night evened the series at a game apiece, the NLCS shifts to St. Louis for the next three games starting with this afternoon’s 4:07 start, which features Cain going up against the Cardinals’ Kyle Lohse.

The matchup sees two of the NL’s best pitchers facing off against each other for the first time this season, , but most of the talk on Tuesday’s off day centred on Cardinals’ outfielder Holliday’s hard takeout of Scutaro.

Scutaro, who played for the Blue Jays in 2008 and ’09, stayed in the game long enough to hit a key three-run single in the fourth inning, but exited in the sixth.

After Monday’s game, Holliday said he regretted not starting his slide earlier, but added he had no intention of hurting Scutaro.

Holliday’s manager Mike Matheny continued to defend him Tuesday. “He was trying to play the game hard and trying to break up a double play,” Matheny said. “Unfortunately a player did get hurt on the other side.”

Major League Baseball’s rules state that a runner should be called out if he hinders a fielder attempting to make a play on a batted ball, but hard slides meant to break up double plays are not only tolerated, but celebrated as “playing the game the right way.”

Anyway, Bochy said his team is happy to put the play behind them. They aren’t thinking about revenge, he said.

“What’s on our mind is to go out and play our best ball. That’s over. You have to move on. You hate to see what happened, (but) what’s important is we keep our focus.”

Bochy said he thought the slide was late and illegal, but he doesn’t think Holliday was trying to hurt Scutaro.

“Injuries do happen. I don’t think, when you’re looking at some plays, they’re meant to be dirty or anything, but guys are playing hard. And I want our guys to play hard. That’s how you play the game. But unfortunately these things happen. And we’re still optimistic that he is going to come out of this okay and hopefully play tomorrow.”

A bigger issue than any potential payback on Wednesday is whether the game will be delayed or derailed by rain. Local forecasts are currently predicting an 80 per cent chance of showers with a risk of thunderstorms.

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